Between heaven and earth it is still a bridge. Void and unyielding, moving and healing. It is better to be poor than to keep the middle.
The literal translation of this passage is: The gap between heaven and earth is endless, never exhausted, and the more it moves, the more it is endless. If people say too much, or if they are too arrogant, they will accelerate their defeat, but it is better to keep their hearts pure and empty!
But if you understand it at a deeper level, you can appreciate the great wisdom of Lao Tzu.
The breadth between heaven and earth is not only in terms of area, but also in the mind of heaven and earth. It can tolerate the whims of the world's people in it.
Two world wars, the lives of the people were ruined. But heaven and earth still did not destroy mankind, but continued to allow mankind to reproduce. This is the bosom and love of heaven and earth.
Heaven and earth can equate all things with each other, regardless of whether they are high or low. But humans can't. Human beings not only divide themselves into threes, sixes, and nines, but also quarrel with each other. Proud people feel that they are the hegemons of the world, so they have to attack the weak people.
Take the Nazis in Germany, for example. Hitler believed that his own nation was the superior race, and that they had the duty and responsibility to eliminate those "inferior" nations. So in World War II, the German Nazis exterminated the Jews on a large scale. The cruelty of the means makes it impossible to look at them directly.
But did the German Nazis really have the right to judge who was the superior race and who was the inferior race? Not really. But just because of Hitler's wrong and extreme subjective consciousness, the Jews were brutally murdered without even a basic humanitarian spirit.
Including the Japanese occupation of China at that time. At that time, the Imperial Japanese Army also considered itself the strongest nation and invincible. Their aggression against China was not expansion, but the fine domination of China's "inferior" race. In their view, ruling China is support for the Chinese people.
In fact, these self-extremist concepts of consciousness are what Lao Tzu called "too many words and counts poor.". The end result is self-destruction. Before the Japanese invaded China, their plan was to seize China in three months. However, the battle dragged on for eight years to complete, and finally suffered heavy losses.
Although it is said that "more words are poor, it is better to keep the middle". But how many people can really do it? In fact, the people who can keep the middle are some wise people, people with great wisdom. These people are like heaven and earth, with a mind that can absorb all kinds of things.
During the Warring States period, the State of Liang and the State of Chu were adjacent. The two countries have not been harmonious, so they have set up separate posts on the border.
Next to the outposts on both sides, watermelons were planted. Liang Guo's side often watered, pulled grass, and fertilized. Therefore, the melon seedlings grow very well; the management personnel on the Chu side are very lazy and do not manage the melon seedlings, so the melon seedlings on this side are about to wither.
The people of the State of Chu were very jealous when they saw the melon seedlings of the Liang Kingdom rising vigorously. They sneaked over and ripped off all the melon seedlings in Liang Ting.
When Liang Guo's people found out the next day, they were very angry and reported to the county commander Song Wei, saying that we should retaliate with a tit-for-tat and also tear off their melon seedlings! Song said, "Of course, the people of Chu Ting are not doing this kind of behavior. If others are not right, it is even more wrong for us to follow the study, which is too narrow and too small. Do as I tell you to do, and from today onwards, water their seedlings every night, so that their seedlings will grow well. And, do not let them know. "The people of Liang Guo can only follow the instructions of the county order.
The people of the State of Chu found that their melon seedlings were growing better and better day by day, and upon closer inspection, they found that the ground had been watered every morning, and that the people of the Liang State had quietly watered them at night.
When the county commander of the Chu state heard the report of the Ting pawn, he felt very ashamed and admired, so he reported it to the king of Chu. The King of Chu deeply felt the sincerity of the Liang people in cultivating their neighbors, and specially prepared a heavy gift to send the King of Liang to show his apologies. As a result, this pair of enemy countries became friendly neighbors.
If The county commander of liangguo, Song Song, was a narrow-minded person, then ordered his subordinates to repay evil with evil. Then these two countries will be at war for years. But precisely because Song had a broad mind like a saint, this good deed made the two countries friendly neighbors.
So the wisdom of the saints is to have a mind like heaven and earth. Let all the negative things dissolve between heaven and earth. The world will be a better place.